There are two International Observe the Moon Nights planned for this month.

Seminole State College Planetarium will hold an International Observe the Moon Night on Friday September 17th at Cranes Roost Park from 8PM till 11PM

CFAS will hold an International Observe the Moon night on Saturday September 18th at Winter Garden Village from 8PM till 11PM

Please come out and join us at one of these events

Astronomy  Magazine is again  providing a special reduced subscription and 2011 Calandar pricing for CFAS members.     If you are interested in getting or renewing a subscription please read the following article.

Ray Jones. CFAS Treasurer

STARGAZER #539 for Sep. 4, 2010

Galileo and the Goddess of Love

In January 1610 Galileo began using his newly invented telescope to observe the planets. After discovering Jupiter has moons, he must have been anxious to see what Venus might reveal.

After all, the goddess of love and beauty was the most brilliant of all the planets and its pattern of appearances was mystifying. Like Mercury -- but unlike Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn -- Venus was never seen far from the rising or setting Sun.

But alas, in January Venus was in the morning sky and old Galileo must have not been a morning person. Finally, by fall Venus was in the evening sky -- just as it's currently in our evening sky. He was likely anticipating big things, but, boy, was he ever disappointed -- at least at first.

All he saw in his primitive scope was a small fuzzy sphere -- bright, yes, but no moons, no discernible features, and nothing else befitting a goddess of beauty. What a let down.

But being the good scientist he was, he continued observing Venus as it climbed further from the setting Sun over the next several months. And it's good that he did.

His discoveries of Jupiter's moons and our Moon's mountainous features had already cast serious doubts about the then-accepted Earth-centered theory -- the idea that everything in the cosmos moved around a stationary Earth.

What he began to note about Venus would put yet another nail in the coffin of the old theory and provide strong evidence in support of Copernicus' revolutionary and heretical Sun-centered theory.

After a few weeks he observed that Venus was growing larger and less circular. By December it was twice the size as when he first saw it and its roundish shape had become semi-circular, and it continued to change almost nightly. It became even larger and by early February 1611 had become a thin crescent.

IMAGE: Approximations of Galileo's views of Venus in September 1610, December 1610, January 1611, and February 1611 (left to right).

Being the bright guy he was, he realized the pattern of Venus' phases, along with its pattern of appearances -- never being seen far from the Sun -- could only result if Venus orbited the Sun, not the Earth.

With this discovery Galileo became an open advocate for Copernicus' Sun-centered theory, leading ultimately to his trial for heresy and condemnation to spend the last decade of his life in the isolation of house arrest -- a fine thank-you for one of history's greatest scientists.

Next Two Weeks. Avg. sunrise: 7:10 a.m.; avg. sunset: 7:40 p.m. (exact for Waco, TX)

* Tomorrow evening Mars is just above the slightly brighter star Spica low in the west southwest with brilliant Venus to their left.

* The Moon is new Wed.

* Fri. evening the crescent Moon is below Venus (left), Mars (higher above), and Spica (just above) low in the west southwest at dusk.

* The evening of Sep. 11, the crescent Moon is to Venus' upper left.

* The Moon is at 1st quarter Sep. 15.

Naked-eye Planets. (The Sun, Moon, and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east rotation on its axis.) In the early evening Saturn is low above the western horizon at dusk with Venus and Mars slightly higher and two fist-widths (held at arm's length) to Saturn's left. Jupiter is up an hour after sunset, and by morning dominates the western sky.

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Stargazer appears every other week in the Waco Tribune-Herald and other newspapers.  Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco.  Write him at 918 N. 30th St., Waco, TX 76707, call or fax at (254) 753-6920, or e-mail at paulderrickwaco@aol.com. 

Copyright 2010 by Paul Derrick.  Permission is granted for free electronic distribution as long as these paragraphs are included.  Please obtain permission from the author for publication in any other form.  To be added to (or removed from) the free e-mail distribution list, send your e-mail address (and name) to paulderrickwaco@aol.com.

* * See the Stargazer Web site at http://www.stargazerpaul.com. * *

The long-anticipated conversion of the website to e107 has been delayed in part due to e107's lack of features in the forum.  It was also confusing to administer, so I looked for another solution.  I came across glFusion almost by accident.  The capabilities CFAS wants from the forums in built-in and it appears to be easier to administer.  I'm starting to move content from e107 over to this system and will try to do so quickly.  Hopefully I can get things in order before observing season begins.